Painting by Numbers
by AutumnDynasty
Summary: Answer to the MaLoki 20themes challenge. Now with added hints of hemuloki shounenai.
1. Before 1

**Before**

Before, all Yamino knew was darkness. The dark and the cold and sorrow. Loneliness was his only companion. He struggled against his fate, but with no help it was impossible to be free of Odin's hold. He sometimes wondered how his siblings were; how his father was. But they were fleeting thoughts. It was best not to dwell on others when he would most likely never see them again.

But one day, he was freed. Fiery magic surrounded him; dragged him up and dusted him off. His rescuer was there, grinning in such a self-assured manner that it made him feel anything was currently possible. Yamino hissed a greeting to his beloved father and realised that the warm feeling he had was not just from the magic that still surrounded him.

"You'll go on a journey with me," the voice commanded. Yamino nodded. He would pay back his father, Loki. He would be there for Loki as Loki had been there for him. And he would never make his father regret his decision to save him.


	2. Crows 15

**Crows**

Loki had always been a bit edgy around crows. He liked them, certainly. They were messengers and bringers of news and fortune; good or bad. Loki could certainly empathise with this. Just as crows helped or hindered with their presence, so did he. People often killed crows, seeing them as ill omens or even as evil. Loki himself had been cast out of Asgard through Odin's fear. Most likely due to the trickster's ambivalent attitude. The Native Americans always saw the crow as a trickster who helped the world accidentally while trying to help himself. This always made the small God laugh.

Despite this, he tried to keep the birds away from his home. Thought and Memory were the forefront concerns in his mind. Hugin and Munin. As Odin's crows and spies in Midgard, Loki could not afford to let them near him. Best to keep all away than risk letting those two omens in.

oOo

Notes: In Norse mythology, Hugin and Munin are Odin's crows. They bring messages back from Midgard on the activities of Men. Also, Native Americans actually see ravens and crows as separate entities. Also, they really believed that the 'trickster' persona belonged to the raven, rather than the crow, who was related to natural order and law. As you can see, I had reason to twist it.


	3. Awakening 17

**Awakening (kakusei)**

Being a child, Loki mused, wasn't always such a bad thing. When you looked small and cute, you could get your way pretty damn often and usually without magic (always a bonus). Shopkeepers took pity on you. This meant free food. If you got hurt, people flocked to see if you were okay. Girls swarmed to you and drowned you in attention. Always a good thing.

Yet, Loki hated it. He hated being so small. So limited. It was hard to really be taken seriously when you looked like you weren't even in highschool yet. And then there was the magic.

His magic was severely limited as a child. Barely able to create fire or even summon, he felt so restricted. He wanted to scream and lash out, to take violent revenge on Odin who had done this to him. Made him sleep inside himself for apparent eternity. Loki wasn't even sure he was quite the trickster God he had once been. It was as though his true self lay dormant and asleep.

'No doubt waiting for a chance to bring about Ragnarok', he laughed bitterly.

oOo

Notes: Loki has been with roughly six goddesses; Sigyn, Angrboda, Tyr's unnamed wife, Freyja, Sif and possibly Frigg. There was also Svadilfari, the horse with which he had Sleipnir but I don't think I want to go into that…


	4. Meeting in the Rain 19

**Meeting in the Rain**

"I'm going out, Fenrir. Ask Yamino to delay dinner?"

Fenrir lifted his head, mumbled something along the lines of "bye, Daddy", then flopped back onto the slightly worn cushion. Loki smiled ruefully before closing the door quietly behind him so as not to disturb the puppy.

He grabbed an umbrella and stepped out into the soaked streets. Rain pelted down, drumming the pavement in a steady rhythm. This was soon accompanied by a harsher beat of footsteps as Loki beat a tune towards the park. In normal circumstances, Loki would never set foot in the rain. He disliked water; some would say he hated it. But this was something he had to do whether he liked it or not.

The small god grumbled through yet another puddle as he reached a large tree that someone had illogically planted in the middle of the district park. Squinting upwards through the rain, he spotted a tell-tale flash of purple.

"Heimdall. Didn't expect to see you here." He called cheerfully. Heimdall gave an amusing squawk and blinked down in surprise to see Loki below with a bright purple umbrella, trying to climb his tree.

"What the hell are you doing out here in the rain? And in my tree? There's plenty others for you to go and mess around in." Heimdall grumbled half-heartedly. His heart just wasn't in it today. Too much to think about already. Loki pulled himself up onto the same branch and repositioned his umbrella to cover Heimdall too.

"You'll get a cold if you stay out too long. Then Freyr will try to look after you. You know what that means, right?" Loki taunted. However this time, it seemed almost…innocent? Friendly, almost. Almost enough to make Heimdall laugh.

"Just…thinking" he ground out. Loki's expression seemed to say 'You can think?' Heimdall grimaced. May as well tell him. What did he have to lose?

"Uh…about Odin. I was thinking maybe…" he began awkwardly. Suddenly, Loki looked down sharply and laughed.

"Did you see that squirrel chasing it's tail just then?" he cut in. Heimdall blinked and looked down too. No squirrel there.

"Must have just missed it" Loki smiled. He handed the purple umbrella to Heimdall and pulled a folded black umbrella from his pocket. Loki jumped down from the tree and began to walk off. He left a bewildered a Heimdall sitting under an umbrella the same colour as his hair. A Heimdall that had temporarily forgotten the problem that kept him there in the first place.

oOo

I have no explanation of how this turned out so long. I only meant to write two paragraphs and the whole thing mutated. Hopefully for the better? Anyhow I don't know if I kept them very in character. Explanation – Heimdall is thinking that maybe, just **maybe, **Loki was right about Odin and his evil manipulation and everything. So it's bugging him cos, come on, it's Loki. Loki, knowing this, has gone out in the rain simply because he's a nice guy like that and wants to a) help Heimdall and b) convince the guy he's not that bad really…and of course he just likes messing around with Heimdall's head. XD


	5. Isolation 9

**_9 - Isolation  
_**

Autumn winds twisted through the red and brown leaves, creating a dance of huge proportions among the branches of the trees. Loki trudged through the fallen dancers on the pavement, feeling quite irritable. His black coat-tails streamed out behind him as he stalked back to the detective agency.

Narukami had gained another job after just half a day of unemployment. It was amazing, really. Ecchan had decided to study and refused to be bothered for the day. Yamino was in a cleaning frenzy, so really it was best to avoid him and Fenrir has gone for a walk with the Norns again, as worrying as it was. Mayura and Reiya had school. Even Heimdall and Freyr had vanished. Loki was alone. Again.

Normally the trickster wouldn't have minded. People were usually around, after all. And as selfish as Loki had the capacity to be, he wouldn't deny that the newly grounded pantheon had other priorities than just himself now that they had decided to stay on in Midgard. It was just…a memory.

In Asgard, Loki had been a renowned God. An target for affection from the women and irritation from the men, Loki could even have been considered popular. Even the giants usually kept a healthy respect for the trickster. But still, his very nature kept him apart from them. He was sociable, but never really welcome in polite company. As much as he was loved, he was hated anyway. He had usually been on his own anyway, unless there was prospect of mischief.

Then he had become a child. And people loved him. It was strange. Did people love children more or something? He'd never had much love when he really was a child. But then…he couldn't remember ever being one. Had he? He must have been. Loki grumbled and kicked petulantly and leaves that some careful person had tidied into a heap on the roadside. It would do no good wondering about that.

But just as he had become used to company, they began to drift apart again. Why couldn't things have stayed as they were? Was he fated to be apart from everyone forever? Like autumn leaves their closeness had slowly faded and now they were drifting away. How…boring.

He thought, perhaps, he should take the advice Narukami gave him the day before. Perhaps, on top of running the quiet detective agency, he should find a part time job and get out a bit more.

Loki was becoming such a homebody.

* * *

I know it's been a while, but I really thought I should get on with these. Sorry this one is so short. I've started another challenge before I even finished this one. So really I'm tying up loose ends. The rest will be posted as soon as I write them, which will be int he next few days if all goes well. Been such a hectic time XD 

This one I'm not too happy with. I'm just not in the right frame of mind, I guess. Not that I can pinpoint any exact thing wrong, but there is something definatly off about it (apart from lack of dialogue).


	6. Vision 5

_** 5 - Vision**_

Mayura burst past Yamino into the main hall exuberantly, knocking the butler flying and leaving a trail of muddy wet footprints in her wake.

"Loki-kun! Loki-kun!" she called as she raced up the stairs towards the trickster's study. She flung the door open to the sight of Loki, his head resting askew on the desk, snoring lightly. Mayura ran up to the sleeping detective's desk and slammed it heavily. Loki snorted, waking with a start.

"Mayura?" he asked blearily. The pink-haired girl practically jumped up and down in excitement.

"You won't believe it! I had a vision! It's a real mystery! A mystery!" Loki frowned in sleepy confusion.

"How do you know it wasn't just a dream, Mayura?" he asked patiently, as one would to a child who was convinced they'd heard a monster under their bed. Mayura shook her head violently and leant further over the desk.

"I dreamt that it would be raining today, and it is! And there was Fenrir sleeping on your sofa, which he is," she pointed frantically at the sofa where, indeed, Fenrir was dozing amongst the cushions.

"Fenrir always sleeps there. It's a mere coincidence, Mayura. Rain and a dog's sleeping habits aren't signs of prophetic visions." Loki sighed. Mayura really was too imaginative for her own good on occasions.

"But Loki-kun…what if I'm possessed or something? In my dream there was a foreign woman with blonde hair raving about you to Kaito-san in my street. On the way here, I even saw them! It really is a mystery! Do you know her?" Mayura looked so blissful at the idea that there was another real mystery, that Loki was afraid she would break something in her excitement.

But that certainly was strange, he'd admit. A coincidence? Must be. Still, what was Freya playing at?

"Okay, Mayura. I admit it's mysterious. Why don't you prove yourself as a real detective and try to find out about this on your own? Go see if you can find the woman again." He smiled. It was an eerie smile, one that, to anyone else, would have been a warning. To a mystery-obsessed Mayura, however, it meant nothing at all. She grinned.

"Great idea, Loki-kun! You'll see! Super Detective Mayura is on the case!" She hummed as she danced back out into the hall, past a dishevelled Yamino. The green-haired man sighed in frustration as the girl trailed yet more mud and water on her way back across the floor he had just recently cleaned again.

Loki sank heavily back into the chair. Hopefully Mayura would get distracted while out investigating someone she probably wouldn't see again for a long time and he would get some peace until the next 'mysterious mystery' popped up.

It was puzzling though. Mayura having a real vision? Only the Norns got visions. And of course, anyone else they felt needed to see something to forward their fate. Knowing the Norns as Loki did, however, he had a feeling the fates were having a little joke at his expense. Words would have to be had.

* * *

Ok I didn't like this one either but there's really nothing I want to do about it. And it's so short sobs Ah well. Next will be up today hopefully. Tomorrow evening at the latest.  



	7. StasisMonotony 20

**20. Stasis/Monotony**

It was a common-known fact that Loki hated the rain and, indeed, water in general. Yet he was outside in it once again. It hadn't stopped raining for days. If he had been in any way poetic, he would have said it was the tears of a God, pouring down upon the world. If that were the case, Loki would have reason to celebrate another small victory against his persecutor.

The rain dripped down his face and through his hair. It dripped from his nose and stung his eyes and kissed his mouth. But Loki looked up at the orange autumn leaves regardless. They had looked gloriously bright this morning, contrasting against the fresh blue sky. Over the day, the sky had faded to its now common grey, dulling the fiery-coloured leaves with it. The colour bled from the sky in heavy raindrops. A sheet of water that blanketed the earth.

Loki's clothes hugged him stubbornly and his boots were sinking ever deeper into the mud. Yamino had come and gone with a worried look and Fenrir had sat staring in confusion from the kitchen window for a while. Other than that there was nobody in Loki's flooding world. And he felt to need to move just yet.

Staring, staring at the dying leaves. At least they were changing. Though days went by, they were never felt. They were never marked by anything. Yamino cleaned, Fenrir slept, Mayura got worked up about mysteries, Freyja tried to force herself upon him and Heimdall tried his best to make Loki's life a misery. It was the way things went.

Was change such a good thing? The rain, the people, the world? Him?

Perhaps not for everything. But could the hate go on still? Could he let go and could others let go? It was a tall order. Especially from a certain one-eyed God.

There was an explosion in Loki's head. He pulled out a handkerchief from the pocket of his shorts. Maybe shorts weren't the best idea in this weather. But it was only a distant thought, washed away by the melting sky. The handkerchief vanished, his hands suddenly shaking. Loki swallowed heavily, gaze wrenched from the burning tree. He looked at brown and grey. A puddle.

Loki choked on a loud shiver that wracked his body. The ground seemed nearer now. Half as near? Maybe less, maybe more. There was nobody else in this flooding world of Loki's. But there was room. Why was nobody ever there? Why couldn't there be? It was always the same. Loki would welcome them now.

It was darker now. There was nothing but a dark sky. Dark brown and dark grey and inevitably dark black. Dark orange? Who knew now? There was no orange in the water.

A sudden cold. The sky rushing down to meet the ground. Loki blinked at the sudden shroud of purple. The sky? There was light. The purple was lighting up the sky; lighting up his world. The shadows ran from such brilliance. The mud no longer pulled and cajoled his at his feet. It had relingished its precious guest. Now, the air graced them.

"Never thought you were so delicate, Loki." A mocking voice, yet tinged with concern? Maybe. Maybe there was change, after all. The monotony of grey and brown and black would end with a streak of purple. Loki rumbled in his throat, but no more sounds came. It was silent but for the thrumming of raindrops on the world.

It went decidedly darker once again. But this time it was a friendly darkness. A comfortable darkness. A warm darkness with an even stronger presence of the light. Of course it was possible. Though the beating on his legs continued, there was nothing stinging his eyes. Nothing on his lips. But then there was something on his lips. Warmer than rain and a little less wet. The slightest of hesitant touches.

Then black again. If Loki had been awake to feel anything more, he would have felt warm. Secure. Safe and comfortable. Heimdall sighed. Loki really was such a bother. But things never did stay the same. Perhaps this would change things. The old methods had been getting monotonous and they always said in Midgard that love was a tortuous thing. Maybe it would be worth it?

Heimdall walked up the path to the detective agency. With Loki held in his arms, he turned to look back from the porch, out at the orange leaves. They would eventually die, so now was their time to truly shine. A last cry of life and defiance before the fall.

oOo

_They are a little bit older body-wise in this. About…mid- to late-teens I'd say. Rather than 10-year-olds…_

_Heimdall, it should be noted, is the God of Light._

_I make a lot of assumptions with this. I assume Loki and Heimdall decide to stay in Midgard. I assume they can get older. I assume you can tell that towards the middle, Loki's body finally starts getting feverish from a day standing in the rain with shorts on so things get a bit more irrational and …metaphorical. I assume that things can change quite a bit while still retaining elements of the old. I assume I can write hemuloki. Maybe that last one is stretching things a bit far._


End file.
